Booty Bay
Booty Bay is a city of pirates, privateers and exotic trade deep in the Stranglethorn Vale. It is known worldwide for its infamous trading and shady dealing. High cliffs of stone surround the city. Apperance Booty Bay hugs the cliffs surrounding an inlet on the southern tip of Stranglethorn Vale. The Cataclysm destroyed much of the city, but it was quickly cobbled back together in a patchwork of planks and seaweed. The city consists of a number of amenities, including several auction houses, banks and a sprawling market with numerous shops and trainers. The city has proven to be an ideal place for fishing. The inlet often has valuable floating wreckage and schools of fish. One can find Firefin Snapper and Oily Blackmouth in the choppy waters amongst waterlogged chests, jewelry and other discarded refuse. History The Lost Expedition Stranglethorn Vale had for millennia been the home of the jungle trolls under the leadership of the Gurubashi Tribe. Over time, the Gurubashi came to be unduly cruel, sacrificing trolls of other tribes to their evil god Hakkar the Soulflayer. After an extensive civil war, the tribes of Stranglethorn split, forever becoming enemies. The cities of the troll empire fell into ruin. In the time after the collapse, the jungle trolls perfected the arts of guerrilla warfare as the numerous factions battled for supremacy. Seeking to expand the kingdom through conquest, King Adamant Wrynn II sent the Stormwind Army into the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale with craftsmen and colonists in tow in 465 K.C. The Stonemason's Guild paved a road behind the army as it cut south into the jungle from Elwynn Forest, imparting the namesake "South Marches" upon the northern tract of the Vale. Many of the northern expedition perished from jungle diseases and wild animal attacks. As the king's army passed Lake Nazferiti as they paved the road, jungle trolls sprung from the trees and laid waste to the ill-prepared and sickly soldiers. The colonists fled northward, cut down left and right by the marauding trolls. Only a handful survived to make it to the Army's base camp at the foot of the Redridge Mountain Range. Landing in the Cape Determined to push on with the colonization efforts, Adamant II sent a fleet of ships to land on the shores of the Cape of Stranglethorn. The king's intention was to take a coastal foothold by force that could be quickly resupplied by sea. As the jungle trolls spotted the king's fleet as it navigated Stranglethorn's western coast, they rallied their forces and prepared for batte. The forces of Stormwind made their landing in a cliff-surrounded lagoon at the southern tip of the Cape of Stranglethorn. The craftsmen of the expedition immediately began unloading building materials from the colonial fleet, beginning to construct wooden fortifications and buildings along the cliff sides. As the sun set on the first night of the southern expedition, the king's men stood at vigil, prepared for the threats that howled in the Vale. Janiero's Point The night grew long, and some of the guardsmen dozed off - thinking that the trolls were still a distant threat. By chance, the missionary priest of the expedition, Father Riode Janiero, went out to gather water from the lagoon. After blessing the clear water, he looked out to the sea. Sources vary as to why or how he did, but at the shore of the lagoon, Father Janiero cried out and pointed towards the island at the lagoon's mouth. Some say it was a divine vision, or simply good eyesight, but Father Janiero had spotted dozens of canoes fast approaching the foothold against the backdrop of the sandy isle. Seething with rage at the humans' encroaching on the Vale, the jungle trolls rowed into the lagoon in the black of night. However, due to Father Janiero's call, the armsmen of Stormwind were well prepared for their arrival - loading ballista and crossbows with projectiles lit with fire. When the canoes were in range, the burning projectiles were released. Burning arcs of flame impacted amongst the tightly-packed wooden canoes, cries of pain and anguish echoing between the cliffs. A rain of iron-tipped arrows soon followed, finishing off many of the trolls who were not shattered by the siege bolts. Faced with annihilation, the trolls who remained retreated into the night. Blackwater Cove When the sun rose, a grizzly sight met the eyes of the king's men. The surface of the lagoon's water had turned black from the trolls' blood, many of the trolls slumped over dead in their scorched canoes. Father Janiero, seeking the Light's blessings for the newly founded colony, held a solemn prayer for the trolls that perished for their blind hatred. The colony, as deemed fitting, was given the name of Blackwater Cove in honor of the battle that almost spelled the destruction of the colonists' progress. Father Janiero was honored for his role in saving the colony, the island that he pointed to given its namesake, "Janiero's Point." The fledgeling colony expanded into a bustling port ripe with trade with he goblins of Kezan despite intermittent skirmishes with the jungle trolls. Under King Landen Wrynn, the Stonemasons' guild finished the road that snaked through the vale and connected to the path first forged by King Adamant II. To further honor Father Janiero, who was canonized as a saint by the Church of the Holy Light, a great statue was constructed on Janiero's Point. Fort Adamant and the fall of Blackwater Cove Five years prior to the opening of the Dark Portal, the kingdom was enjoying a period of peace - reaping the benefits of its outstretched colonies. Seeking to solidify Stormwind's sovereignty in the Vale, King Adamant Wrynn III ordered for a new fortress to be constructed at the foot of the Redridge Mountain Range. The construction began without delay, the king's forces deterring the Jungle Trolls from making attacks on the fortifications. When the Dark Portal opened and orcs streamed into the kingdom, Adamant III called for most of the troops in the Vale to aid in the first defense of Stormwind City in the battle which he would ultimately perish. Emboldened by the humans' weakened defenses, the jungle trolls launched a ruthless conquest against the kingdom's holdings. Only half completed, Fort Adamant was the first settlement to fall under an overwhelming troll assault. Cut off from Stormwind by both land and sea, Blackwater Cove did what it could to defend the kingdom's sovereignty of the port city. The trolls surrounded the cliffs that boxed in the cove, holding the colony hostage in a prolonged siege. The people of the Blackwater Cove pleaded with the Steamwheedle Cartel for aid. Seeing an opportunity to make a grand profit and take control of the territory for himself, the goblin Trade Baron Revilgaz raised the prices of foodstuffs that were being bought by the besieged colonists. The Baron then offered mercenary aid with a catch - Blackwater Cove would have to be forfeited to the Steamwheedle Cartel. With its gold coffers bled dry and the trolls breaching their defenses, the colonists finally relented and submitted to the Steamwheedle Cartel. Calling in privateers and mercenaries from Kezan, Baron Revilgaz broke the siege and drove the jungle trolls back in a final climactic battle. Booty Bay With Blackwater Cove now in control of the Steamwheedle Cartel, the port city ran by the rule of profit and extortion - with many of the former colonists reduced to rags from the goblins' "repayment" policies. Many turned to pirating or profiteering under the Baron's regime. To celebrate the city's new ruler, the statue of Father Janiero was torn down and a larger statue of Baron Revilgaz was erected in its place. Now known for its haven of pirates and the riches built up by the Steamwheedle Cartel, Blackwater Cove was renamed Booty Bay. Stranglethorn, a land fraught with conflict, remains a wild place full of danger to this day. Category:Places